An East Cleveland man was properly convicted of committing a Painesville home invasion robbery, the 11th District Court of Appeals recently ruled.
Ricci Lewis, 33, argued his court-appointed attorney was incompetent after being sentenced to 20 years in prison by Lake County Common Pleas Judge Eugene A. Lucci on May 16, 2012.
A jury found Lewis and his co-defendant, 27-year-old Carvell Fomby of Cleveland, guilty of aggravated robbery, aggravated burglary and firearm specifications.
The duo forced their way inside a Richmond Street home with firearms on April 5, 2011, while a man, woman and their four children were inside.
The adult victims testified Fomby struck the male victim on the head with a semiautomatic pistol, while Lewis tackled him to the ground. Fomby also held a gun to the woman’s head while asking her to show him where the money was.
Lewis claimed Lucci should have allowed him to retain his own lawyer because the two had trouble communicating. Lewis said Assistant County Public Defender James Mathews failed to give him notice of upcoming events in the case, causing him to miss a court hearing — which led to a warrant for his arrest.
However, Mathews argued he left messages for Lewis to call him back and still found it extremely difficult to get in touch with his client.
“Trial counsel also stated that whenever he was able to meet with appellant, his client was argumentative and would not accept any legal advice,” 11th District Judge Thomas R. Wright wrote. “… The trial court could justifiably conclude that the lack of communication between the attorney and his client was solely attributable to (Lewis), and that (Lewis’) actions were simply a means of delaying the beginning of his trial while he was out on bail.”
The appellate court also rejected Lewis’s other 19 arguments, including his claim that he was denied due process of law because he received a greater sentence than his co-defendant’s 17 years.
Appellate Judge Timothy P. Cannon concurred with Wright’s majority opinion.
However, 11th District Judge Colleen Mary O’Toole agreed with Lewis on one point — that some of his convictions should have merged for sentencing purposes.
“Lewis’ six-year sentence for aggravated burglary is to run consecutively to his eight-year sentence for his aggravated robbery charges,” O’Toole wrote in her dissenting opinion. “Lewis was also sentenced to an additional six years on two, three-year gun specifications: all sentences to run consecutively for a total of twenty years. Yet the victim in this case only suffered scrapes and bruises on his face and skull …”